System Of A Down refute charges by Turkish media

Online Rock Radio, Greece
June 23 2006

System Of A Down has posted a statement at its official website
refuting claims by the Turkish media that the band’s 1998 tour featured
tickets with an anti-Turk slogan printed on them. The message reads
in part, "The Turkish media has been spreading blatant lies about
System Of A Down, among them the claim that we had an anti-Turk slogan
printed on tickets during our 1998 tour with Slayer.

The truth is that System Of A Down cancelled our shows opening for
Slayer in Turkey in 1998…there were no anti-Turkish slurs printed
on any tickets for that, or any other tour involving System Of A
Down." The statement adds that the band "wishes that the media be
conscious of the facts, responsible in their research, honest in
their writing, and dedicated to the essential importance of the truth."

Drummer John Dolmayan told us why the band pulled out of the shows:
"You know, we had an opportunity to play in Turkey and we decided
not to do it for a number of reasons, one of which being our personal
safety. You know, we do have a few songs in our repertoire that touch
on the Armenian genocide and we insist on playing them. In fact, we
had planned on playing only those songs. At that time there was one,
and we were gonna play it for our whole set if we went to Turkey."

SOAD has been highly critical of the Turkish governments for failing
to acknowledge and apologize for the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians
by the Turks during World War One. The members of SOAD are of Armenian
descent and lost family members in the atrocities.

SOAD will begin its co-headlining stint on this summer’s Ozzfest next
Thursday (June 29th) in Seattle, Washington.

The band plans to take a long hiatus after completing the tour,
during which all four members will work on individual projects.

The latest single from SOAD’s Hypnotize album is "Kill Rock ‘N’ Roll."